Economy

Durable Goods Orders Drop in July

Written by Becca Moczygemba

August 24, 2023

After four months of increases, new orders for durable goods in the US dropped in July.

The US Census Bureau announced on Aug. 24 that following a 4.4% increase in June, orders for manufactured durable goods fell by 5.2%, or by $15.5 billion, to $285.9 billion in July.

When excluding transportation, new orders increased by 0.5%, said the Bureau. Transportation includes non-steel-intensive items such as aircrafts. And excluding defense, new orders fell by 5.4%.

Transportation was the largest contributor to the decrease, dropping 14.3% to $98.7 billion.

New orders for primary metals increased by 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted $26.98 billion in July from June’s $26.94 billion. Fabricated metal products orders rose 0.7% month-on-month from $35.6 billion to $35.9 billion.

Click here for more detail on the July advance report from the US Census Bureau on durable goods manufacturers’ shipments, inventories, and orders. See also Figure 1 below.

Becca Moczygemba

Becca Moczygemba is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has been in the steel industry since 2017, specializing in flat-rolled products. Prior to joining SMU, she held positions at Mitsui & Co. and Kloeckner Metals. Becca has a BA in Organizational/Corporate Communication from the University of Houston and an MBA from Norwich University. Contact Becca at becca@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1000.

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